Wake Forest athletic trainer fired after social media comment about Charlie Kirk

Shane Connuck, The Charlotte Observer on Sep 17, 2025

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A Wake Forest athletic trainer has been fired after celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Bridget Sullivan, a former assistant with the women’s soccer team, posted an Instagram story on her account showing lyrics “he had it coming, he had it coming” followed by text: “This audio is all I have to say about that.”

That screenshot, amplified by @LibsofTikTok and its 4.4 million X followers, has more than 670,000 views since late Tuesday afternoon.

The university issued the following statement: “Bridget Sullivan is no longer at Wake Forest University. As a matter of policy, Wake Forest does not comment on personnel or employment matters.”

Rep. Pat Harrigan — of North Carolina’s 10th congressional district, which includes Iredell County — announced on X at 2:01 p.m. Tuesday that he’d contacted the university in Winston-Salem, and updated after roughly two hours that Sullivan had been fired.

“I’m happy to report that after I contacted @WakeForest, Bridget has been FIRED for celebrating Charlie Kirk’s assassination,” the congressman wrote in an X post at 4:21 p.m. Thursday. “Even better, the university is giving full support to students launching a (Turning Point USA) chapter.”

Sullivan’s bio has been removed from the Demon Deacons’ website, but search results show she’s a Nashville, Tenn., native and worked at Wake Forest since fall 2020. Sullivan earned two degrees from High Point University, graduating in 2017 with a Bachelor’s in exercise science and a Master’s in athletic training from the institution in 2019.

Wake Forest women’s soccer made its first national championship appearance in program history last season.

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